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Kung Pao Meatballs – Low Carb and Gluten-Free

Juicy low carb meatballs with all the great flavors of your favorite take out dish, Kung Pao. Plus it’s just fun to say Kung Pao! A delicious guest post by Mellissa of I Breathe, I’m Hungry.

For a second guest post while I am away, I enlisted the help of the beautiful and talented Mellissa Sevigny of I Breathe, I’m Hungry. Chances are you already know her blog well, but if you don’t…you should. She’s got fantastic recipes and I think I will dub her the Queen of Meatballs because she comes up with the most fantastic low carb meatball recipes. And she’s a sweetheart to boot. I am looking forward to meeting her at Blog Her Food in May!

When Carolyn emailed me about guest posting for her over here on All Day I Dream About Food, I was equal parts nervous and excited. Carolyn is the real deal, (you know this already or you wouldn’t be here) and I wanted to make sure that I could live up to her high standards!

What terrified me the most is that she would ask me to post a dessert recipe. Nobody, and I mean nobody, can hold a candle to Carolyn when it comes to creating crazy good low carb desserts! In fact, if we were on Iron Chef America and it was a low carb dessert challenge, I would happily be the soux chef to Carolyn’s superior dessert genius. And she would definitely win the whole shebang!

Now I’m not saying that I can’t bust out a decent cake when called for, but I tend to lean more toward the savory side of low carb over at I Breathe I’m Hungry.

That’s why Carolyn and I make a great team – I’m like the peanut butter to her jelly. The bacon to her chocolate. The cheese to her low carb cracker. The….well, you get the idea.

So when I sent her the email asking her what she had in mind, I was nervous to be sure. Imagine my relief her response suggested that I come up with a meatball recipe for you guys! Carolyn obviously took pity on me and gave me an easy assignment, because when it comes to making meatballs – I got this.

I don’t want to toot my own horn or anything (sure I do), but I know my way around a meatball! I love meatballs so much that I dedicated an entire day per week to them with my Meatball Monday series! I have over 30 meatball recipes posted so far, with plenty more on the way!

After much deliberation, I decided to tackle the Kung Pao Meatball! Kung Pao is a spicy stir fry dish of Chinese origin, that is traditionally made with chicken, and contains peanuts or cashews.

I chose to make these meatballs with pork, because ground chicken can sometimes be dry in meatball format. I also used peanuts in my version, but you can easily substitute cashews if you have an allergy or a preference.

Finally, I would categorize these as mildly spicy as the recipe is written – if you want to turn up the heat you can increase the dried pepper flakes, or even use fresh hot chilis to really blow your socks off.

The final verdict? Easy to make, yet loaded with exciting flavors and texture, this is one of my best meatball creations to date – definitely my top favorite in the Asian category at least. I hope you’ll try them and let me know what you think!

A huge thanks to Carolyn for inviting me to guest post (and not asking me to make a dessert!) – it’s been an honor hanging out with you guys over here at All Day I Dream About Food! Feel free to join us over at I Breathe I’m Hungry anytime – where hopefully I’ll convince Carolyn to return the favor and guest post with an epic dessert recipe soon!

Combine the ground pork, almond flour, egg, garlic powder, ginger, gluten free soy sauce, red pepper flakes, scallions, peanuts, and salt in a medium bowl. Mix thoroughly and form into 16 meatballs. Heat the 2 Tbsp oil in a nonstick pan and fry the meatballs about 3 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Remove the meatballs and set aside.

For the Sauce:

Wipe out the nonstick pan you cooked the meatballs in and heat 1 Tbsp oil over medium high heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for about one minute or until fragrant. Reduce heat and add the water, gluten free soy sauce, vinegar, sweetener, xanthan gum, and red pepper flakes and whisk until xanthan gum is dissolved. Taste and adjust to your preference with salt, sweetener, or more red pepper flakes as desired. Add the peanuts, scallions, and meatballs back to the pan. Toss to coat and cook for about 2 minutes. If the mixture becomes too thick, you can add another tablespoon of water. Serve hot.

Nutritional Disclaimer

Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program.
I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them.
I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.

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Made these, but sadly, I made a mistake. Should have made a double batch! These were so good, I had to stop and save some for my husband as well. Usually I change recipes to suit my taste buds, but in this case, I won’t change a thing.

My neighbor gave me a bunch of Turkey Burger patties, he said they weren’t very good. I knew it was because he tried just cooking them plain like a beef burger. So I got four of the 1/4lb patties, defrosted them, mixed in the ingredients and whipped-up the meatballs which were excellent! The Turkey Kung Pao mixture was kind of ‘wet’ so they couldn’t be formed into meatballs but I discovered a heaping 1/8th cup measure was about right for each ‘meatball’ to drop onto the oiled pan. Made some Mock Fried Rice (made with cauliflower) to go with it. 10 out of 10 would cook and eat again.

I did not like the taste of the sauce at all I don’t like the sweeteners yucky taste & aftertaste I dipped my finger in like 10 times I guess I thought I would have a different result. HOWEVER on the other hand it was too hot in the house air is out so I made it into ? Cheese burgers. I doubled everything for the meat I used half venison & half pork (that is what I had in the house ground it myself ?) YUM the burgers were awesome so thank you for sharing!! Everyone has different taste buds

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Looking for the best low carb recipes? You've come to the right place! I'm Carolyn, a major carnivore and an unrepentant sweet tooth. Here you will find all you need to enjoy the low carb keto lifestyle to the fullest! Read more